Daddy the Strong
by charliedee
Summary: Bolt has a brilliant idea.. To break into his fathers office while he was away so he and Sarada could stealthily read the locked away, confidential files. Sarada hadn't known of her fathers past..Well, up till now at least. She decides to confront her father on what she read. Fluff. One-Shot.


"Psst." The classroom was silent, as only a few moments had passed since Auberame-Sensei had passed around a ten question quiz, but of course, like always, Bolt had to disrupt the silence. She'd been studying for the test almost all week, even asking her father to help her review, so like hell she'd let Bolt take her attention away from this. "Yo, Sarada!"

She finished up her sentence and just barely looked to the right to catch his big blue eyes. "What? I don't want to get in trouble because of you again!" It was only yesterday when Shino had reprimanded them for speaking while he was giving his lecture, and every waking moment since she'd been contemplating moving up to the first row of pews.

"So, y'know how our dads are gone on that mission till tomorrow?" He glanced back down to his paper and began to scrawl down nonsense, just in case Shino were to take a look to the last row of students. She did the same, tapping the lead down to the paper as she gave a small 'mhm' as a reply. "And you like to read, right?"

"I guess.." Where was he going with this? She shot him a side glance as her curiosity piqued. Normally Bolt never toyed with Sarada and reading because he hated studying and found her quite the bore when she took to her books.

"Well my dads outta office, no one goes in there when he isn't there, so I'm thinking we should read some of those locked away files, huh? How about it?" He wiggled on the spot with pure excitement, his eyes looking off into the distance as he thought about the gems hidden away in those cabinets. "He's never gone for this long, so it's now or never."

Her brows furrowed. "They're locked away for a reason Bolt." But then again, it would be super interesting to read some things that not a lot of people got to see. She remembered a few weeks ago when Auberame-Sensei had told her mother and father about her and Bolt's continued chit-chat, when they were alone at home Sasuke ranted on to Sakura about how Bolt was a horrible influence on her. She didn't understand at first, but now as she was seriously contemplating breaking into the Hokage's office to read some confidential files... Her father was definitely right.

"But imagine the possibilities Sarada! If I could choose one person to go lock picking with, it'd be you." He laid his pencil down completely and tugged at her sleeve. "Come ooonnn!"

When a loud smacking noise sounded from the front of the class they snapped their heads up, just in time to see their Sensei smack a meter stick against the chalk board, looking them dead in the eyes. "Uchiha! Uzumaki! If I hear one more peep back there I will separate you two for the rest of the semester."

They stuffed their faces back down into their papers, and when they deemed it safe, they shot each other another glance, agreeing in silence that they would do this.

When class ended and they were given a stern lecture by Shino, they were finally released. "So what's the plan?" Sarada questioned as she set her pastel yellow backpack down on the hardwood floors beneath their feet, undoing the clasp so she could set her two textbooks inside carefully.

"Wadaya mean? What plan? We just go in." He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, raising a brow at her as she stood back up and slung the pack over her right shoulder.

She scoffed, a little taken aback. "We can't just walk in or we'll get caught." When he didn't seem to care she shook her head. "I'm not going to go with you if we aren't going to do it the right way, cause I don't want to get caught."

"Whata little daddy's girl, huh?" When she didn't budge he let out a long sigh, puffing his lips out as he gazed out the window opposite the wall he was leaning against. "Fine, fine! We'll make a plan." He dug into his pant pockets and fished around for a bit, then pulled out a ring with multiple golden keys. "I've got my dads spare keys he keeps at home, so that's a start."

A small smile found it's way to Sarada's face, now this was something she liked. "Okay! So.. Do you know any entrance's that aren't as guarded as say, the front door?"

"Hmmm.." He rubbed his chin with a grimace. "There is a side entrance that connects to the Hokage hall, and there isn't usually a lot of people around there, but to get to the outside door we're gonna have to scale the big wall."

Her heart fluttered in her chest - getting to read some secret stuff and scaling a wall, all in one day? "Hm, that's a good enough plan, let's go!"

"Yes!" He skyrocketed off the wall and the two were off, darting down the hall as fast as they could. She weaved through the thicket of bustling people int he dusty streets of Konoha, the large Hokage manse in their sights. They nodded to each other with large grins on their faces, both effectively bumping into a large group of adults doing so.

They darted into a small area dense with trees that hugged the wall, and finally they could let out a huff of air. "Okay, that was the easy part..." Bolt slowly stated as he craned his neck upwards, eyes taking in the whole height of this monstrous wall before them. "I dunno about you, but my dad practiced tree climbing with me." He stated proudly, stretching his limbs out before he meandered over to the stone wall, giving her a side glance as he did.

She raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest, motioning for him to go ahead. "Well let's see it then."

With a smirk Bolt looked back toward the wall, focused, and began to dart up the wall. She watched curiously as he did so until about half way up the wall when suddenly he began to slow down, and the blue aura around his feet faded away instantly. She chuckled as gravity took effect and pulled him down toward the earth below, the sheer thud of his body kicking up the stray leaves on the grass.

Sarada stepped over him with her own infamous smirk. "Watch and learn." She readied herself before focusing her chakra to her feet, and just like Bolt in the beginning darted upwards up the wall. With a fast pace she ran past the point where Bolt lost his control, and continued upward till her feet were steadily standing on the edge of the wall. As he groaned in an embarrassed manner, she waved down at him. "So did my dad, and by the looks of it, he's a better teacher!"

"Whatever!" He called up as he scrambled to his feet, patting down his pants of the dirt they collected from his fall, a slight blush on his cheeks. "This time I'll get it for sure!"

"We'll see." She crouched on the ledge and watched him intently, every so often pushing her glasses up on her nose. She laughed as he failed once more. "If you can get up just a little more try and grab my hand!"

He nodded and furiously began to scale the wall, as he did so she leaned forward as far as she could, stretched her arm out just enough for him to clasp onto her hand. "Ah, you're so heavy!" Even though her mother was famous for her insane amount of strength, Sarada was still just training! She drew in a sharp intake of breath as she heaved him up with everything she had - which turned out to be too much as she lost her footing on the ledge, sending them right over the opposite ledge, effectively hitting the hard concrete below.

Bolt peeled his face off the concrete, a slow stream of blood running down his lip and chin. "O-ouch.."

When Sarada sat up, she first rubbed her back with a hiss. "Didn't think that through.." She narrowed her eyes, swiping her glasses off her face and holding the lenses up to the sunlight. "No! I just got these ones too!" A large crack ran through the glass in the right lens and that meant one thing - she was going to have to ask her mom to buy her yet another pair. She touched her cheek with her index and middle finger, feeling a small scratch filled with tiny bits of gravel. She sighed. "Those files better be worth it."

"Yeah, better be!" He wiped his bloody nose on his black sleeve and took to his feet. He lent her a hand, and after she dusted her scratched up knees, he pointed to the side of the manse. "See, there's the door!" He tugged her along, two pairs of feet now clambering up the steel stairs leading up to the large green door. "Just gotta find the key, eheh."

As he fiddled around with the key ring, Sarada nervously looked around, tugging the hemming of her pink sweater. "Hurry up before someone comes." Her onyx eyes darted around in every direction, just waiting for someone to turn the corner and scream at them. "Bolt, hurr-"

He tugged her through the door and slammed it behind them, letting out a long sigh. "No need to worry, there's the office doors!" She smiled with a nod, and once again, the two were bounding down the narrow hall, skidding to a halt before the large locked doors. "We gotta be careful, everyone puts papers through this slot, so if we mess them up he'll know someone was in here."

She nodded, keeping close watch on both ends of the halls as Bolt slid the key into the brass lock. With a yelp of sudden joy, the large doors opened to the office - filled to the brim with juicy files just waiting to be read! Sarada pushed him through the doors and shut them behind her, watching now as Bolt immediately made his way to the large chair designated for the one and only Hokage. "Look at all those filing cabinets!"

"Hehe, yeah! Look at me, I'm the Hokage, I'm sooo important, _sorry Bolt, can't train with you, gotta do some meetings_! Blah blah blah!" He kicked his feet up to the desk, knocking over a cup filled with pens. He laughed manically as he crossed his arms behind his head. "Hey, it feels pretty cool to sit here!"

"Here, give me the keys, I'll unlock the cabinets." And boy, there were a lot of them lining the walls. Giddily, she pounced over to the first one, unlocked it, took one side step and unlocked the next one - continuously doing this until each cabinet was finished. "Well, where do we start?"

He tapped his chin. "Let's go alphabetically!"

They heaved the filed A-F out of their respective slots and heaved them onto the desk. Bolt curled up on the chair with a few files while Sarada sat on the edge of the desk, neatly laying some files out for her reading.

Over the course of the two hours that passed, they continuously moved around the room in different spots, and when they approached the next cabinet they grimaced at each other. It was U-Z, which only meant one thing. "Our dads." Bolt whispered as he slowly pulled the drawer out. Their mouths were gaping open at the sheer thickness of Sasuke's file. "Holy crud!" They looked at Naruto's file, which compared to most was large, but was nothing compared to Sasuke's.

Sarada heaved the bulging beige folder out of the cabinet, huffing and puffing as she carried it over to the desk. "Geez..." She whispered, climbing up to take her seat on the edge of the desk. She knew some things, but the details were scarce, all she knew was that her father had a troubled past, and when she pressed him for details he told her he'd tell her when she was older. She smirked, feeling powered that she didn't have to wait for him to tell her. She waited for Bolt to make his way over with his own fathers files, taking a seat beside her.

"Wonder what interesting stuff we're gonna find."

They opened their respective files, mouths almost drooling. Bolt commented on how Naruto's files started with growing up partly in an orphanage, while Sarada's files started off with the massacre. She knew this much, it was some of the little things Sasuke had mentioned to her as she grew up but as she continued reading she spotted something of interest. "..Culprit determined to be Uchiha, Itachi..." Her brows furrowed. She only heard good things, wonderful things even, of her uncle Itachi, her father never once spoke of him in any sort of ill way..

She sat as still as a gargoyle for a few moments, processing what exactly she had just read while Bolt silently set his folder down and watched her. "Itachi, like your uncle Itachi?"

"I-I guess, I don't know any other Itachi's..." She moved that page aside for now and continued on through the others while Bolt never returned to his own, merely bringing his knees up to his chest and watched her in completely silence. "Come on, read those files, I don't want to read these alone.."

He nodded and brought forth his papers. "Eheh, look it's my dads academy grades!" He inspected them closely. "They're worse than mine!" He burst out laughing, effectively knocking some other stacks of paper over in the process.

She giggled as she flipped through some more massacre details, choosing not to read those, and found her own dad's grades. "Look how good my dads grades are!" It made her feel somewhat better that she was currently up to par with her fathers own grades, which meant she was doing excellent.

"Pff, yeah of course both of you were the top of the class, huh?" They flipped through some more grades, Naruto's growing worse as Sasuke's continued to stay at the top of the class. "Hey! TEAM 7! Here's where it's gonna get good! Man, Kakashi's so cool, I wish he wasn't so old so he could be our teacher."

"Yeah." She agreed as she scanned through the introductory paragraph on how team 7 was made, Sasuke being the top of the team, her own mother being the average, and Naruto being dead last. "Hehe, _dead last, _like you_." _

"Shut up." As they read in silence, Bolt only piped up a few times. "I wonder if we'll be in the same team."

"I'll be top of the team just like my dad and you'll be bottom of the team, just like yours."

He didn't retaliate. "And then I wonder who our Sensei would be! I hope it's gonna be Konohamaru!"

Sarada swatted at him to hush as she skimmed through the pages, noting a small footnote stating the Sasuke had intentions to kill 'a certain someone.' She was curious - but something told her in the back of her mind she didn't want to know. She skimmed and skimmed and skimmed until she hit the chunin test results, and finding something very interesting. "Hmm, attacked by the missing-nin Orochimaru, who when defeated by Sasuke implants the cursed seal on his neck as a reward.. What the heck is the cursed seal?"

"Sounds cool." Bolt sighed with a shrug."Your dads folder is a lot cooler than my dads."

"It sounds bad to me.." She read on. "..Itachi would return soon after the failed invasion, Sasuke, determined to find Itachi, does so and starts a fight. None of his attacks were able to land, leaving Itachi to torment and belittle Sasuke for being 'weak', leaving Sasuke with a broken wrist. Might Guy then brought Sasuke to the hospital." She had trouble reading the ancient hand written report of what happened but there was no doubt in her mind that she read that wrong. "I never knew this happened..."

"Jeez."

"Sasuke was confronted by the Sound Four, who gave him a standing offer to join them, as they all had the same matching cursed seal. After giving it some thought, Sasuke decides to leave with the Sound Four. Almost out of the village at this point, he is then confronted by an emotional Sakura Haruno, who desperately pleas to either stay or let her come with him."

Sarada pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Now that's true love, huh! My dad told me he didn't really notice my mom till after the war, but I mean your mom's loved your dad all this time!"

"Despite these pleas, Sasuke thanks her before knocking her out and leaving her on a bench.. Wow."

"Hm, at least they love each other now?"

"Sasuke from this point on is now officially classified as a missing-nin." Her heart sunk down in her chest as she thought about her father in that way, not that it deterred her opinion of him in any way, but... Well, she was shocked to say the least. "Naruto interjects Sasuke at the Valley of the End after learning that Orochimaru's intent with Sasuke was to use his body as his new host...Ew!"

"Eugh, at the time he was like a fifty year old man or something, right?" Bolt shivered. "Maybe he did take your dads body, and your dad isn't your dad, he's just Orochimaru using his body!"

"D-don't say that!" She tore through the pages nervously, as Bolt had brought up a good point - _what if_!? "Oh, this is three years later.. A vulnerable Orochimaru is then attacked by Sasuke before the ritual can take place, who is defeated by Sasuke... Yay! My dads my dad! Sasuke then recruits Suigetsu Hozuki, Karin, and Jugo for their help in the Itachi pursuit."

"Like my aunt Karin?"

"Hm, I guess so."

"Weird."

"Yeah.. Sasuke defeats Deidara... Sasuke finally battles with Itachi Uchiha for the last time." Suddenly, Sarada felt like she was violating her fathers privacy. If he wanted to tell her then he would have told her by now, and on his own terms from his own perspective. With a quivering lip she slammed the folder shut and raced back to the cabinet, shoving it into its rightful place before slinging her pack over her shoulder. "I want to go home.."

"Oh... Okay.." Bolt did the same with his fathers folder.

"Please don't tell anyone." She whispered, and when he looked in her eyes and saw just how upset she was he nodded.

"I wont." He stated sincerely, punching his arms into the shoulder straps of his pack. "Well come one, let's get outta here."

...

Upon returning home, Sarada was engulfed with pure guilt and shock, not knowing what to think anymore. She slid open the door to the Uchiha abode and immediately the strong smell of dinner met her. She wasn't all that excited to be honest, and usually she was because she could tell her mother made her favorite dinner, she didn't feel hungry at all.

She hooked her bag on the jacket hook and slowly peeled her boots off, setting them off neatly beside her mothers boots before slowly pacing into the kitchen. "Hi mama." She greeted, slowly taking a seat on the island stool to watch her mother cook.

"Hey sweetie, you're home late. What were you doing?" Sakura gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead before returning to her work. "And how'd you get that scratch on your cheek - and you cracked your glasses already?!"

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she slid her glasses off her face to inspect them. "Sorry, I went with Bolt to the training field.." She felt sick lying to her mother like this, but it had to be done, at least until she got this all sorted out. "We were fighting a little too hard I guess."

"Ah." Sakura smiled sweetly as she finished preparing the shabu shabu, setting it down on the island before Sarada. "Well then you must be hungry after all that training, huh?"

She gave a small nod as she prepared her own plate, Sakura taking a seat beside her and doing the same. "Mama, when did you and daddy fall in love?"

She smiled as she quietly ate her food. "After the war, but I've loved your father for as long as I can remember."

"Then why didn't you fall in love earlier?" Sarada thought she'd feel less guilty if she could get her mother to admit something.

Sakura shrugged. "Because we were young and we both had different paths."

_Dang it_. "Hm." Sarada poked at her food, completely uninterested at this point.

"What's wrong? I made this just for you."

_I'm caught in a web of lies_! "I just... I didn't beat Bolt when we sparred." So untrue, she knew she could beat him. "But he didn't win either, we tied."

Sakura daintily smiled as she finished another bite of her food. "You know, your father would have never admitted to that when he and Naruto would spar."

Sarada thought about their battle at the valley of the end. It seemed she got her competitiveness from her father. "Sounds like him."

"Sounds like you too.. So don't get so fed up if you're not 'beating' Bolt, okay? At this age what you can do is still above average, and me and your father couldn't be more impressed."

"Thanks mama." She force fed herself the food to the point where her stomach got upset, so as much as Sakura didn't want to let her go, Sarada excused herself to her bedroom. She tippy-toed passed her baby brothers nursery and quietly shut her bedroom door behind her. She closed her glasses and carefully placed them down on her desk, opening the blinds as the sun was beginning to settle over the horizon. She didn't particularly want to wait for her father to return home, even though he should be home come the morning, but it felt like the guilt was eating her alive.

She fished around in her drawers, finding her PJ's and making her way to the bathroom to take a shower.

When she was finished she curled up on her bed and thought about what she had read earlier. What was the cursed seal? And Uncle Itachi! So many questions! She raked her fingers through her hair, occasionally getting up and glancing out the window, looking at the small alarm clock on her desk, which read 11:53. She didn't know when exactly her father was supposed to be coming home from this two day long mission, but usually she'd feel his presence when he returned home.

So she'd stay up all night.

Which is what she did, and even though she felt miserable, she knew it was the right thing to do. It was 4:12 when she felt the 'presence'. Luckily she kept a pair of sandals underneath her bed so she didn't have to stealthily pass by her parents bedroom or the nursery, because she knew if her mother caught her sneaking out at this hour she'd surely get her ear bitten.

So she pulled on her sandals, pulled her pink sweater over her white pj set, and carefully slid her window open, and silently hissed when it made a small click. She stood there in silence to see if her mother would storm in - but so far so good. She slowly lifted her leg out the window, did so with the next, and closed the window behind her before slinking away from the compound.

She raced through the streets, lit up by the overhead streetlights, it looked quite eerie, as she had never been out at this hour before. There were a few guards paroling the streets, who once they saw her looking like a runaway child raised their brows and were about to call for attention when she would wave them off and tell them it was okay.

Sarada rounded the corner to the main street and the large welcoming Konoha gates, where she could see the three figures approaching the lit streets. She wouldn't put it past her father to sense her, so instead of staying around the corner she took a step into the main street to wait for him. Once he, Naruto, and the anbu officer were in plain sight, Sasuke immediately noticed her, and right after Naruto noticed her as well.

"Hey Sarada!" Naruto waved over at her, seemingly unaware that she was an eleven year old girl wandering the streets in the wee hours of the morning - but he may just be tired, so she gave him that. But it seemed her father wasn't as forgiving, as his eye shot open angrily and he stormed on over as she waved to Naruto.

"_What_ are _you_ doing out here?" He barked, seemingly angry but she could tell he was more alarmed and worried than anything. He lifted her arms up, inspecting her for any damage or wounds she could have gotten from being out late at night. "What's this on your cheek, and where are your glasses-"

"Daddy I'm fine!" She tried to swat his hand away but it failed as he continued to poke and prod her. "I came to see you."

"You should be in bed, Sarada." Sasuke stated with a defeated sigh, knowing fully well he can't win an argument against her, not because she was excellent at arguing her point, but being the protective father who was wrapped around his daughters pinky he just gave up completely. He turned to face his team slightly when Naruto whistled for his attention.

"I'm gonna head home, I'm totally beat. I'll be expecting the reports tomorrow then?"

"Hn." Sasuke gave him a slight nod, and right after that Naruto and the anbu officer had disappeared. "Now, why did you wake up and sneak out of the house to meet me?"

"I didn't wake up, I stayed up." She informed him a matter-of-factly as he knelt beside her, still inspecting her. "And it's surprisingly easy to leave the house since mama is so tired."

"No more sneaking out this late at night, Sarada, it's not safe." He told her sternly as he stood back up, placing his right hand on her shoulder and turning her around to face the street she came down. "Now come on, let's go home."

"Wait!"

"No, time to go home-"

"Hold on!" She ducked down underneath his hand and faced him, looking up to him with the guiltiest face he'd ever seen on a child. "I did something bad today.."

He raised a brow. "Does your mother know?" She shook her head and he sighed. "Can it wait until morning?'

"I wouldn't have stayed up late if I didn't need to tell you now, please daddy." She tugged on his black coat with some strength to show him she meant business so he sighed once more and knelt beside her. "Well.. Today after class, me and Bolt-"

Sasuke pressed his lips into a thin line before shaking his head angrily. "Tch, I should have known it involved him!"

"Listen, because it wasn't really his fault." He quieted down, when her face grew even more guilt ridden. "We broke into the Hokage's manse afterclass..." His brows furrowed but he let her continue. "And I'm really sorry, really really sorry, but we read a lot of locked away files because we got curious.."

"All you did was read some files?" He raised a brow, as it hadn't sounded to bad to him, at least bad enough to need an apology.

She sheepishly dug her sandaled toes into the dirt at her feet. "I read some of _your_ files, and I'm really really sorry."

Although she couldn't see it, his face softened. "How much of those files did you read?"

"Up until you and uncle Itachi were going to fight.."

"Ah." He stared at the ground for a moment, contemplating his next course of action.

"I'm really sorry daddy, I didn't know!"

"I know Sarada, I'm not blaming you. I should have told you sooner." He met her sullen eyes once more before taking a stand and clasping her hand within his own. "Come on."

Silently, she walked alongside her father to a street unknown to her, so she remained pretty close to his side as she glanced around curiously. She could tell they had made their way back into the Uchiha district, as all the cobble fences had the Uchiha symbol plastered everywhere, but where they were going she couldn't tell - since they had already passed their home. It became clear to her that he had led them to the district's private park area, where Sasuke had previously taught her the infamous Uchiha right of passage, so she grew a little confused as to why they were there, but still she didn't question him.

He led her to a bench overlooking the still pond water and took a seat, where he then pet the empty space beside him. It was getting a tad chilly out, and like she always had done since she could remember - and ever since Sasuke donned the long dark cloak - Sarada opened it up, took a seat right beside him, and wrapped the warm fabric around her, looking up at him intently.

"So." He began as he tried to find the rights words to place together. "What exactly did you read."

"The very first thing I saw was that uncle Itachi was the one who..Killed everyone." He nodded along to her words. "Um.. Then when team 7 entered the chunin exams, and that snake man gave you a.. Cursed Seal?" He nodded once more. "And then uncle Itachi came to the village and you attacked him, he broke your wrist.. Then something about the snake mans people coming to offer you to come with them, so you agreed and when you were leaving you knocked mama out and left her on a bench.. You killed the snake man, and then you got some people to follow you, and then you found Itachi.. I didn't read anymore. So was that all true?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"So you really were a missing-nin?"

"I was only declassified as a missing-nin until the war had ended. So would you rather me tell you everything right now, or would you rather go to bed?"

"I'd like to know now, please." She scooted in closer, from both curiosity and the need to keep warm.

"Itachi did kill our entire clan, and for a good chunk of my life I had obsessed over it, to the point where I would do anything to give me enough power in order to defeat him. Orochimaru had given me a Cursed seal which granted me enhanced chakra and physical capacity. It wasn't enough for me, so my only option at the time was to leave Konoha to train with Orochimaru, it didn't matter to me who I left behind, as long as I got the power I needed. Your mother threatened to scream if I left.." He lightly chuckled at the memory, and Sarada smiled. "So I knocked her unconscious. I trained with Orochimaru for three years, all the while he'd been waiting patiently to use me as his next vessel, during this time he'd been growing weaker and I knew that was my only opening, so I 'killed' him. I collected some of his experiments, Suigetsu, Jugo, and his subordinate Karin, to aid me as I went off for Itachi." He glanced down at her to make sure she was still awake. "I then fought Itachi, one of the most mentally taxing battles I've ever fought, and in the end I defeated him. I awoke to a man claiming he had the truth of Itachi, I was skeptical, but I listened. Itachi had been used by the village's elders to do their dirty work, at the time he had been acting as a double spy for both the Uchiha and the village. The clan were planning a coup against the village, and the elders knew of this because of Itachi, so they gave him the ultimatum. Either he slay the entire clan himself and live with this his entire life, or the village would turn against the Uchiha and slay every single member, regardless of their innocence. Even if we are the strongest clan out there, we wouldn't have won against the entire village.."

Sarada's eyes widened, mouth in the shape of an 'o' as she listened closely to his words.

"He chose the first option, but he said he'd only do it if he could spare my life, as he could not have ever killed me. They agreed, and so the massacre had happened. After this man told me this information, I came to the conclusion that I would destroy the village and all the elders that allowed Itachi to do such a thing."

"_Destroy the village_?! Including everyone in it?!" She gasped, scooting in as close as she could get, greedily awaiting more information. He nodded. "Woah.."

"You know when Naruto has those big meetings, with all of the kage's?" When she nodded he continued. "It was held in the Land of Iron, so my team and I traveled there, where we had attacked the Five Kage summit. I fought against Danzo Shimura, and in the end he took Karin as a hostage.. I didn't care, so I did not hesitate to fatally wound Karin in order to finish off Danzo. When he was dead, the man, Tobi, had told me to kill Karin since she was of no use anymore."

"But she's still alive?"She raised a brow and cocked her head, remembering back to just a few months ago when she went over to Bolt's house and Karin was visiting them. "So what did you do?"

"Well that's when your mother comes in."

"What?"

"Just as I was about to kill Karin, your mother appeared before me. She told me she was willing to follow me, even if it meant destroying Konoha. I didn't believe her so I told her to prove she was sincere, she had to kill Karin."

"_Oh my_!" She watched as Sasuke's expression changed a tad. "What happened next?"

"She hesitated, and I knew she had lied to me, so I attempted to kill her but Kakashi had stopped me."

"You tried to kill mama..?"

"I'm_ not_ proud of it, Sarada. They tried to convince me to return home, but I wouldn't listen to reason, so I attacked Kakashi with intent to kill him. My eyesight was deteriorating at this point, and your mother saw her opportunity to kill me."

"So she didn't actually want to follow you, she just wanted to kill you when your back was turned?"

"Mm. Even though I was nearly blind I sensed your mother, she couldn't bring herself to kill me - so I had attempted to kill her yet again, but Naruto intervened and saved her. I told them once again I was not coming back to the village and I left with Tobi. Since I was almost blind I asked Tobi to transplant Itachi's eyes into my own."

Sarada was absolutely flabbergasted at this point. "What, so your eyes right now aren't _your_ _actual_ eyes?"

"No. Now this is the beginning of the war."

"I know a lot about the war." Sarada chimed proudly, wrapping her arms around his own. "You lost your arm, and Bolt's uncle died."

"Mhm, but before I got to the battlefield, I ran into _Itachi_."

"What?!"

"A man named Kabuto had reincarnated him, as Kabuto had done the same with many others. Itachi was leaving off to Kabuto's base to put an end to the jutsu keeping him alive. Kabuto tried to sway me to side with him to help defeat Itachi, but I chose to team up with Itachi. We defeated Kabuto, which ended in the release of the reincarnation jutsu. As he began to fade away, he told me that no matter what path I chose he would love me forever."

"Aweh." Her face twisted up at the thought of that scene. She surely was her mothers child, as she had no problem in showing her emotions - Sasuke always appreciated that.

"I decided to revive Orochimaru through a scroll, he led us to a temple where I had him revive the past Hokage's so I could hear what they had to say. In the end I made the decision to protect Konoha. I'm sure you know the rest of the battle that ensued."

She nodded vigorously. "Wow." Was all she could say, and from both her voice and facial expression Sasuke could see just how shocked she was. But he heard something she didn't think he'd hear from her mouth. "You're amazing!"

Now it was his turn to act a tad surprised. "What?" He really hadn't expected that, as Sarada was impressively protective over her family, so Sasuke just figured Sarada would be slightly angered with him for what he had done to her in the past. He gazed down into her large black eyes, looking up at him with the utmost love and respect.

"After all of that you still came home and fought the good fight!" She cheered happily with the largest smile he'd ever seen on her face. "I knew you were the strongest ninja ever, but I didn't know you were _that_ strong!"

He smirked. It wasn't like he was instilling this knowledge into her head on his own, she was making this up on her own - and he wasn't going to argue it at all. He didn't regard to himself as strong or not anymore because in this day in age and his current mindset it didn't matter, but to hear this from his own daughter? Of course it was incredibly gratifying because if there was one person in this world he wanted to make proud, it would be her. He wondered if she'd ever hold a grudge against him once she learned his past because of all the wrong doings he had done, and hearing those words come from her mouth was a great amount of weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Mama's really strong too, I probably wouldn't have forgiven you if you tried to kill me.."

He chuckled lightly. Like hell he'd ever let someone do that to his daughter. That's when it hit him - he finally understood why Kizashi Haruno hated him _so_ much. "Your mother _is incredibly_ strong." He glanced down to notice Sarada had passed out, curled up in a perfect ball form, just snoozing away like she was in her own bed.

With a sigh he carefully picked her up, which he was quite good at considering he had one arm, and began to make his way home. How he'd managed to marry the most forgiving woman was still unknown to him, and he never took it for granted, ever. He never expected anything from her but she gave him her everything, and gave birth to two beautiful and healthy children. His daughter turned out to be just as forgiving as her mother, and for that he was eternally grateful - but his son may be harder to sway, as he was forever going to be a mamas boy.

Now this was the tricky part - getting back into their home without waking either the baby or Sakura, and even Sarada at this point - but to his surprise Sarada silently wiggled out of his arms and slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling out a small silver key.

"Were you sleeping or just faking it?" It wouldn't have been the first time she'd faked sleeping so she could be carried around, especially when she was younger, stating she liked showing off how strong he was to the others as he held her with one arm.

As she quietly slid the key into the lock, she gave him that famous Uchiha smirk. "I faked it, but I am sorta tired." She twisted the doorknob as slowly as she could and when it clicked open, she paced inside quickly, leaving her father to deal with closing the door. She slid her sandals off, setting them neatly beside all of the other pairs. She took a few steps in, idly glancing around while Sasuke removed his own sandals and hung his messenger bag on the hook.

When she turned around to face him, he affectionately poked her forehead. "Get yourself in bed Sarada, I'll meet you in a second." She nodded and rounded the corner, while he made his way for the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet, let the water run until it was icy cold, and returned back to her bedroom just as she was settling into her bed. He set the glass on her bedside table and then made his way over to her window, inspecting it before locking the two locks still unlatched after she slunk out. "No more sneaking out or I'll make sure this window stays permanently closed."

She nodded with a smile, resting her head down on her pillow, watching him as he then took a seat on the edge of her bed. "I promise I wont."

"How did you two even break into Naruto's office?"

"Bolt stole the spare keys from his house."

"Hm." Sasuke still thought Bolt was a bad influence on his little girl - Sarada would have never thought of that on her own. He wasn't going to discourage her actions, as he thought that in the future she'd appreciate the freedom she was given, and hopefully that would prevent some sort of rebellious stage he did not want to deal with. "Just don't let Bolt make you do anything you don't want to do."

"Trust me, I wont." She snuggled down deeper into her duvet, so only her nose and eyes were poking out. "Daddy, can you tell me when you and mama fell in love?"

He took a brief moment to think about it. "Your mother always meant a lot to me, everyone on the team did, they were the only sort of family I had after the massacre. It took me a while to realize this, and when I did I was heading out of the village after the war. I had a lot of time to myself to atone for my sins, which also left me a lot of time to think about my bonds. It took me two years but when I came back to the village I finally told her how I felt, not that I thought by this time she'd still care-"

"Daddy if she loved you all those years, even after you tried to kill her I doubt she'd stop loving you after being gone for another two years."

He laughed. "Well at that point I didn't quite have a grasp on just how forgiving she was. You have a wonderful mother Sarada."

"And I have the best daddy anybody could have ever asked for!" She sat up and wrapped her arms around his much larger figure, squeezing him tightly as if he were her lifeline, and abruptly let go to snuggle back into bed. "I love you."

With a small smile he leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. "I love you too, Sarada." When he stood up and slowly paced over to her door, he looked back over his shoulder. "Now seriously, get some sleep."

* * *

><p><em>Wah, I love daddy!Sasuke and little Sarada. I had this little idea and I've been dying to type it out, and I'm pretty thrilled that I'm finished!<em>

_Reviews would be so welcomed so I can know how I can improve, because I'll most likely be writing a ton more one-shots!_


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